#academicfreedom — Public Fediverse posts

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

https://www.europesays.com/africa/411238/ Global Edition #Academic #AcademicFreedom #education #Ghana #HigherEducation #Leadership #news #transformative #university

“While certain countries are cutting #research and turning their back on #academicfreedom, we’re doubling down on science,” #MélanieJoly, Canada’s #industryminister, told reporters at the announcement, in Vancouver, of the new #university hiring.
#Canada #CanadaSky

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5zca2ola2zxpkw37w4f3wxtu/post/3mu3qfaecoc2w

Some top law schools are banning laptops and AI tools in class to "AI-proof" future lawyers. By focusing on live discourse and critical thinking, they aim to ensure students can perform essential legal tasks independently. ⚖️ #HigherEd #University #AI #LegalEducation #AcademicFreedom

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/artificial-intelligence/2026/07/14/ai-proof-lawyers-some-law-schools-restrict

"#MERIP’s Spring issue, #CampusPolitics — #Palestine and the New University Order, comes two years after mass #studentMobilizations against #Israel’s genocide in Palestine reached their peak with #studentEncampments across the United States and Europe.

"The issue takes stock of #higherEducation following this inflection point..."

https://www.merip.org/issue-318/
#Gaza #PalestineSolidarity #studentProtests #activism #campusActivism #higherEd #academicFreedom #USpol #EuPol #censorship #stateRepression

The #Trump admin has opened investigations into #admissions policies at 3 major #MedicalSchools, expanding the #federal govt’s pressure campaign beyond campus #culture & taking aim at the heart of #ScientificAuthority in the #US.

The #DOJ on Wednesday informed #Stanford, #OhioState & #UCSD, about the investigations & demanded that the schools turn over extensive lists of #data by April 24 or risk interruptions to essential federal #funding….

#law #AcademicFreedom #education #privacy #medicine

Great. Let’s impede #medical #education./s

#Trump Admin Begins Investigations Into Three #MedicalSchools

The #DOJ’s demands for #admissions-related data from #Stanford, #OhioState & the University of California, San Diego [#UCSD], represent a flex of #federal #power.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #privacy #InfoSec #dictatorship #authoritarianism #MafiaState #RevengePolitics #science #medicine #PublicHealth

#GiftArticle

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/us/politics/trump-medical-schools-civil-rights.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WFA.pWJo.d0KT6obrI1V6&smid=nytcore-ios-share

A quotation from Henry Commager

We do not need to fear ideas, but the censorship of ideas. We do not need to fear criticism, but the silencing of criticism. We do not need to fear excitement or agitation in the academic community, but timidity and apathy. We do not need to fear resistance to political leaders, but unquestioning acquiescence in whatever policies those leaders adopt.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1965-12-18), “The Problem of Dissent,” Saturday Review

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #commager #henrycommager #acquiescence #agitation #apathy #censorship #criticism #dissent #intellectualfreedom #resistance #silencing #timidity #academicfreedom

Texas A&M faculty, students rally against policy they deem censorship – Texas Standard

Texas A&M faculty, students rally against policy they deem censorship

A professor says he’s speaking up for others “deathly afraid” of losing their jobs or being targeted by state leadership.

https://atx.audio/4qc1gz8 – Listen to audio…

By Laura Rice, January 30, 2026, 12:50 pm, Education, Race & Identity, Texas Standard Original

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) estimated as many as 400 people attended a rally on the Texas A&M campus on Jan. 29.

Hundreds of students, faculty and alumni rallied at Texas A&M University on Thursday, many holding signs saying “Aggies for Academic Freedom” in response to what they characterize as the university’s censorship of course material.

In the fall, Texas A&M fired a lecturer for class material that included gender identity in children’s literature. Before the spring semester began, the A&M University System implemented a policy requiring campus presidents to sign off on courses that could be seen as advocating “race and gender ideology” – or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity.

» RELATED: From Plato to sociology: How Texas A&M’s new curriculum policy is impacting the start of the semester

The rally consisted of students and alumni alongside members of the TAMU American Association of University Professors and other faculty, staff and student groups. They’ve formed a coalition and are laying out demands to A&M including the removal of “censorship” on teaching topics and that the university reinstate all “improperly canceled” courses. They’re also requesting the fired literature lecturer, Melissa McCoul, be reinstated.

» RELATED: Texas A&M removes administrators, orders course review following viral video

Texas Standard reached out to Texas A&M to invite them onto the program. A spokesperson let us know the university is releasing the findings of its course review today (Friday, Jan. 30). The university also provided a statement which can be found in its entirety at the bottom of this story.

Leonard Bright is president of the Texas A&M University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Listen to Texas Standard’s interview with Bright in the audio player at the top of this story or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: Are you concerned you’re putting your job at risk by participating rallies and doing interviews like this?

Leonard Bright: Well, you know, it shouldn’t be being placed at risk. Part of my job is to discuss matters of public concern. That is literally written in our policies and in my contract.

But of course, I cannot be silly of the fact that there are those that would love to potentially use this as an opportunity to try to get me fired or dismissed. But those are not really my concerns.

I believe that in the importance of speaking up, being truthful and try to fight for this most important thing called academic freedom, but also a deep quality education. So I think that’s more important to me.

I don’t certainly want to lose my job, but at the same time, I want to be truthful, thoughtful, and do my job with the highest level of integrity.

One of your graduate-level courses was canceled this spring. The Houston Chronicle reports the dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service repeatedly asked you for more information about the content in question that you didn’t reply.

How do you respond to those reports?

Yeah, so what actually happened is that they were asking me to be dishonest.

They asked their questions. I answered them as thoroughly as I can. I mean, they wanted to know the extent to which I’m discussing issues of race, gender, and sexuality in a graduate-level course, for students who are going into public service.

And my answer was repeatedly “every day, in every reading.” I mean, this topic of race, gender and sexuality is sort of central to the issue of ethics, which is how we treat people, and people are their identity.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Texas A&M faculty, students rally against policy they deem censorship | Texas Standard

Well done #Trump 🤦🏼‍♀️

#Universities in #China Surge in Global Rankings as #US #Schools Slip

#Harvard still dominates, though it fell to No. 3 on a list measuring #academic output. Other American universities are falling farther behind their global peers.

#education #law #immigration #StudentVisas #WorkVisas #GovernmentInterference #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #censorship #BrainDrain
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/us/harvard-global-ranking-chinese-universities-trump-cuts.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

I wonder if AB Gov scientists would consider listing someone outside as the lead author to avoid this in the future?

Alberta officials stalled coal mine pollution study | The Narwhal https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-stalled-coal-mine-pollution-study/

#AcademicFreedom #OpenAccess #Muzzling #ABLeg

"In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China."

Academic freedom is threatened by institutional conflicts of interest. Her research has been reinstated after she said she would take legal action.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/nov/03/uk-university-halted-human-rights-research-after-pressure-from-china

[Edit: more background on the topic https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025-05-29/chinas-economy-runs-on-uyghur-forced-labour]

#AcademicFreedom #SheffieldHallam #UKresearch #ConflictsOfInterest #UKuniversities #HumanRights #ForcedLabour #Uighurs #Xinjiang #LauraMurphy #UKChinaRelations

#AmericanPrestige pod welcomes back historian #RashidKhalidi to talk about #ColumbiaUniversity's entente with the #Trump Administration, #Columbia's measures to bring in "outside monitors," and how powerful donors and neoliberal management models are affecting humanities departments and #MiddleEastStudies.

https://americanprestige.supportingcast.fm/listen/american-prestige-1/e223-columbia-trump-and-the-palestine-exception-w-rashid-khalidi

#studentProtests #ColumbiaU #academicFreedom #campusActivism #stateRepression #GazaSolidarity #PalestineSolidarity #USpolitics #UShigherEd @palestine @israel

#Texas just gutted #FreeSpeech on #college #campuses. Is your state next?

New laws in the Lone Star State will silence dissent and undermine #faculty authority.

By Laura Benitez and Jonathan Friedman
July 14, 2025

"As thousands of students return to college campuses this fall, they will find themselves stepping into an environment reshaped by political and ideological mandates. Across the country, state legislators have been racing to exert new influence over free expression in higher education. Now, Texas has surged to the forefront, closing its 2025 legislative session by passing two alarming laws that take effect Sept. 1.

"Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in June, the new laws amount to a stunningly aggressive legislative crackdown on campus protest (#SB2972) and academic shared governance (#SB37) at public colleges and universities. The laws will not just silence dissent and undermine faculty authority in Texas; they provide a blueprint for how to dismantle academic freedom and chill speech on campus state by state.

"Only a few years ago, conservative lawmakers railed against college 'free-speech zones,' arguing that liberal administrators were muzzling students on the rest of campus. In 2019, Texas legislators joined other states in taking action by declaring all outdoor spaces on public campuses open for protest and speech by students, employees and the general public.

"Now, some of the same legislators have done an about-face. The campus protest law actually directs public colleges and universities to implement a version of free-speech zones and adopt sweeping limitations on protests. #Encampments? Banned. #Megaphones or #speakers during 'class hours'? Forbidden — if anyone claims your 'expressive activity' is one that 'intimidates others' or 'interferes' with an employee’s duties. Even wearing a mask during a protest — something many do for safety — could land a student or employee a disciplinary hearing resulting in 'sanctions.' And any expressive activity between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. is off-limits altogether."

Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/14/texas-campus-free-speech/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/2LuBD

#TexasProtestLaws #ProtestLaws #ProtestLawsTexas #Project2025 #AntiProtestLaws #Authoritarianism #SilencingFreeSpeech #Censorship #AcademicFreedom #AntiMaskLaws #Fascism #USPol #CivilLiberties #Texas

"Instead of asking whether science should be political,
we should ask how politics can be more scientific." - Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(25)00089-1

#ScholarlyPublishing #TheLancet #PoliticizationOfScience #Censorship #AcademicFreedom #ScienceAdvice

Thurs Nov 14th @ 1pm ET 8pm Palestine

#Gaza In Context: A Collaborative Teach-In Series

Leaving Zionism, Embracing Humanity | #RazSegal's Intellectual & Political Journey: Part 2 of 2

#RazSegal in conversation with #BassamHaddad

https://youtu.be/dR3SX5oauDM

#Palestine #PalestineQuestion #Israel #oPt #GenocideStudies #IHRA #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #FreeSpeechOnCampus #CampusActivism #PalestineSolidarity #GazaSolidarity #Jadaliyya @palestine

#UniversityOfCalifornia #Faculty Groups File Landmark Unfair Labor Practices Complaint Against #UC Over UC’s Repression of #ActivismForPalestine

Anna Markowitz, Wendy Matsumura, and Annie McClanahan join #SpeakingOutOfPlace to discuss their faculty associations' complaint

https://speakingoutofplace.com/2024/10/16/university-of-california-faculty-groups-file-landmark-unfair-labor-practices-complaint-against-uc-over-ucs-repression-of-activism-for-palestine/

#FreeSpeechOnCampus #StudentProtests #FacultyProtests #CampusActivism #StateRepression #AcademicFreedom #USpol #USpolitics #Gaza #Palestine #GazaSolidarity #PalestineSolidarity

@palestine

George Mason's Faculty and Staff for Justice in #Palestine presents:

Resisting the Ratcheting Up of Repression in Academia and on Campus | Part 1

#EmmaiaGelman in conversation with #BassamHaddad and #BethanyLetiecq

https://youtu.be/ILsaYP433TQ

#Gaza #WarOnGaza #PalestineSolidarity #GazaSolidarity #StudentProtests #FacultyProtests #AcademicFreedom #CampusActivism #FreeSpeechOnCampus #StateRepression #censorship #USpol #USpolitics @palestine

"#ThePalestineException opens as #CampusEncampments increase across the US in protest against #Israel’s war in #Gaza."

Documenting the Fight Against The #Palestine Exception: A Conversation w/ #Filmmakers #JanHaaken & #JenniferRuth

https://speakingoutofplace.com/2024/09/03/documenting-the-fight-against-the-palestine-exception-a-conversation-with-filmmakers-jan-haaken-and-jennifer-ruth/
#cinéma #documentary #cinéastes #StudentProtests #GazaSolidarityEncampments #GazaSolidarity #PalestineSolidarity #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeechOnCampus #CampusActivism #USpol #USpolitics @palestine

trailer: https://youtu.be/0Uj71mtIQIY

In Defense of #AcademicFreedom: Defamation, Intimidation, and Suspension | Session 5

Research on targeted #faculty intimidation and defamation

w/ #EmmaiaGelman, #IsaacKamola, #BassamHaddad, #MariamDurrani

https://youtu.be/8D7LvFgMiDs
#PalestineSolidarity #GazaSolidarity #FacultyProtests #CampusActivism #GazaGenocide #WarOnGaza #DecolonialStudies #FreeSpeech #USpol #USpolitics @palestine

"A vicious campaign by Israeli academia, police, and media to silence the professor shows Palestinians they have no safe place in Zionist institutions."

by a former student: https://www.972mag.com/nadera-shalhoub-kevorkian-israeli-academia/ @israel @academicchatter

#faculty #academia #academic #universities #CulturalBoycott #academicChatter #war #israel #israelGazaWar #higherEd #education #academicFreedom #citizenship #democracy #police #repression #socialMedia #972mag #research #dissent #fragility #JewishFragility #science #institutionsDeceive #indigeneity #settlers #colonialism #Zionism #antiZionism #October7 #ashlaa #torture #research #childhood #university #academics #harassment #incitment #warEffort #nationalism #citizenship #ShalhoubKevorkian #theocracy #JewishState #freeSpeech #OngoingNakba #indoctrination #brainwashing #campus #raceMaking #Jerusalem #campuses #education

#Columbia and Beyond: The Surge in #ActivismForPalestine, the Instrumentalizing of “Safety,” and the Attack on Education by the #FarRight

guests: Hamza El Boudali, Natasha Lennard, Nicole Erin Morse

https://speakingoutofplace.com/2024/04/21/columbia-and-beyond-the-surge-in-activism-for-palestine-the-instrumentalizing-of-safety-and-the-attack-on-education-by-the-far-right/

#PalestineSolidarity #Palestine #Gaza #StudentActivism #USPol #USPolitics #CampusActivism #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #StateRepression #CivilLiberties #ColumbiaU #ColumbiaUniversity #GazaSolidarityEncampment

@palestine

Harvard Law Review Editors Vote to Kill Article About Genocide in Gaza

The article on the Gaza war and the Nakba was commissioned, edited, fact checked, and prepared for publication — but was then blocked amid a climate of fear.

#HarvardLawReview #GazaGenocide #gaza #nakba #palestine #HarvardLawSchool #israel #zionism #WarCrimes #censorship #AcademicFreedom

https://theintercept.com/2023/11/21/harvard-law-review-gaza-israel/

News from a prominent campus (SUNY Stony Brook) near my hometown on Long Island: “Suffolk County Police Silence Critics by Harassing a Professor and Bullying Stony Brook University”

#policing #academia #academicfreedom #SUNYStonyBrook #LongIsland #SuffolkCounty

https://stonybrookworker.com/sbw-issue-3/suffolk-county-police-silence-critics-by-harassing-a-professor-and-bullying-stony-brook-university

Re: Scott Aaronson • Will UT Austin and Texas A&M Survive Beyond This Week?
• https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=7243

My Comment —
• https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=7243#comment-1949554

As far as the tenure system goes, a little bit of history regurgitated will bring its rationale into focus.

History of the AAUP —

❝In 1900 when noted economist Edward Ross lost his job at Stanford University because Mrs. Leland Stanford didn't like his views on immigrant labor and railroad monopolies, other professors were watching. The incident stuck in the mind of Arthur O. Lovejoy, philosopher at Johns Hopkins. When he and John Dewey organized a meeting in 1915 to form an organization to ensure academic freedom for faculty members, the AAUP was born. “Academic Freedom” was a new idea then.❞

• https://web.archive.org/web/20121221091245/http://www.aaup.org/about/history-aaup

Without a tenure system there is no academic freedom, and without academic freedom universities as organs of free inquiry will simply wither and die.

#ScottAaronson #LargeLanguageModels #GPT
#AcademicFreedom #HigherEducation #Tenure

Re: Scott Aaronson • Will UT Austin and Texas A&M Survive Beyond This Week?
• https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=7243

My Comment —
• https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=7243#comment-1949542

Alas, my friends, read the writing on the wall —

“Money, Money, Techno Upstartin”

Why should society invest in universities, anyway? Why should individuals devote the great measure of their lives and fortunes to acquiring the discipline and joining the calling of responsible research, teaching, and service when that whole apparatus of laborious training can be replaced by a chatbot simulating the conduct of a human being, in particular, an Average Indolent fifth-grader who copies all his book reports off Wikipedia?

No, no, mes amis, the job you lose to a bot will sooner or later be your own.

#ScottAaronson #LargeLanguageModels #GPT
#AcademicFreedom #HigherEducation #Tenure